Sofia Carson on Her 'Deeply Personal' Debut Self-Titled Album: 'I Wanted to Tell a Story'

Sofia Carson got deep into her feelings for her debut self-titled album.

The 28-year-old singer appeared on the latest episode of the PEOPLE Every Day podcast, where she opened up about crafting her first-ever LP, Sofia Carson, which was released on Friday.

Noting that the album is "deeply personal," Carson told host Janine Rubenstein, "I fell in love with songwriting and storytelling when I wrote my first song when I was 10, and I have been working towards my debut album ever since I could remember."

With this project, Carson explained, "I wanted to tell a story from start to finish a story about love — and that's what I did!"

"I wrote a story about a girl who falls into a deceiving level, needs to be broken by it, [and] a girl who picks up her pieces and survives, because it's only love, nobody dies."

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Continuing to speak about her artistry, Carson told PEOPLE, "I've always believed that music and the art that I put out into the world is a reflection of who I am."

"And with music," she continued, "it's such a vulnerable and beautiful thing because you turn the secrets in your heart or your heartbreak and your emotions and your fears, and you make it into something beautiful."

"You make it into art, into music, that you get to share with the world, and now ... it's no longer mine, and now it's theirs to make their own," Carson adds. "I hope that when they hear my music, they hear their story in mine."

Want to get the biggest stories from PEOPLE every weekday? Subscribe to our new podcast, PEOPLE Every Day, to get the essential celebrity, entertainment and human interest news stories Monday through Friday.

The story, Carson details, surrounds a broken heart, but she is in a happy place currently.

"I'm good. We're good. We survive," she said. "It's a combination of personal experiences. Some of the songs on the record are deeply personal ... and a couple of them are also inspired [by] what was happening to the people closest to me in my life, my sister and my best friends."

The Descendants star said she used the inspirations to help piece a story together that became the album: "With those experiences, I kind of created this movie in my head that I wanted to make into an album. And that's how it was born."

RELATED VIDEO: Sofia Carson Sings About 'Being Scared to Fall in Love' in Emotional New Song 'Grey Area'

Carson — who recently performed the National Anthem at a recent Los Angeles Clippers game — is currently taking part in a partnership with UNICEF for Women's History Month. In a PSA, the musician's song is used to support the Keeping Girls in School Act.

"I've always believed that the most important thing that I can do with my voice and my platform and my music is to use it to give," Carson explained to PEOPLE. "And I am so honored to be a UNICEF ambassador, and my heart and soul is dedicated in supporting the work that they do in changing and saving lives of young women through education."

"I've always believed that a girl with a dream and an education is unstoppable and the greatest force in the world," she continued. "But it's a sad reality that over 130 million girls around the world, which is such a huge number to wrap your head around, aren't in school, which means that they've been denied their right education, their voices have been silenced and they've been denied a future."

"It's our duty as women with platforms to raise our voices, to protect our girls, and so I partnered this month with UNICEF and we made a PSA to support the Keeping Girls in School Act ... which will help to protect girls and reduce the barriers that they unfortunately face when accessing school," Carson added.

Check out more episodes of PEOPLE Every Day, airing on Apple podcasts, iHeartMedia, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen to your podcasts.